Women and social security: The limits of EEC equality Law

Abstract

Women's relationship to social security is in some respects very different from men's relationship to the benefit system. This is both in terms of outcomes (or who gets what benefits) and the assumptions which pervade the system about men and women's gender roles. Fifteen years or so ago the EEC passed Council Directive 79/7/EEC which required equality between men and women in statutory social security schemes. A number of articles have been written over the years about the Directive and the European Court of Justice's emerging case-law interpreting the Directive. In the last two or three years significant cases have been decided, particularly in relation to the material scope of the Directive. This article will analyse the main provisions of the Directive and give an up-to-date overview of the Court's case-law